Armie Hammer has been spotted publicly for the first time since he faced a rape accusation in March.
The Call Me By Your Name actor, 34, was photographed in the Cayman Islands, where his estranged wife, Elizabeth Chambers, has been living with their two children during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hammer was seen dining with five friends at the oceanfront tiki bar known as Macabuca, according to an eyewitness. He was dressed down in a grey T-shirt, shorts, sandals and sunglasses, and sported a new buzz cut.
The eyewitness told E! News that "the mood was super chill, eating food and looking casual," noting that no alcohol was consumed.
On March 18, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told E! News that Hammer is the "main suspect" of an investigation into rape and assault allegations. The investigation began on Feb. 3 when an unnamed woman's attorney contacted the bureau. Hammer has denied the allegations.
Also on March 18, attorney Gloria Allred held a press conference with her client, a 24-year-old woman named Effie, who declined to give her last name. Effie alleged that she met Hammer on Facebook and they started their relationship in 2016, when she was 20 years old.
She accused The Social Network actor of using "clear manipulation tactics" to "test my devotion to him." She alleged that he "became increasingly more violent" and "abused me mentally, emotionally and sexually."
Effie accused him of raping her on April 24, 2017, and said she thought he was going to kill her at the time. "Armie Hammer violently raped me for over four hours in Los Angeles," she alleged. "During which he repeatedly slapped my head against a wall bruising my face. He also committed other acts of violence against me to which I did not consent."
Hammer's attorney, Andrew Brettler, told E! News in a statement on March 18, "Effie's own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations... Mr. Hammer responded making it clear that he did not want to maintain that type of relationship with her."
Brettler's statement also read, "From day one, Mr. Hammer has maintained that all of his interactions with [Effie]—and every other sexual partner of his for that matter—have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory."
Allred responded on Effie's behalf, saying, "While many of their encounters were consensual, Effie was very upset" to read his statement. She said Effie has provided her evidence to law enforcement and encouraged Hammer to turn over "all, not some, of his communications" with Effie to investigators.
Earlier this year, Hammer faced another social media scandal regarding alleged leaked messages about his sexual fantasies. As Hammer said in a statement in January, "I'm not responding to these bulls--t claims, but in light of the vicious and spurious online attacks against me, I cannot, in good conscience now, leave my children for four months to shoot a film in the Dominican Republic."
He then parted ways with his upcoming roles in Shotgun Wedding and The Offer, followed by Billion Dollar Spy in March, according to Variety. Hammer was also dropped by his talent agency WME, according to a spokesperson for the company.
As for his relationship with Chambers, the couple announced last summer that they were breaking up after 10 years of marriage.
Following the rape accusation in March 2021, Chambers spoke out on social media about why she's "been so quiet on Insta lately," as one fan asked. The Bird Bakery owner responded that she was "Focusing on healing, my babes and work." She shares 6-year-old daughter Harper and 4-year-old son Ford with her ex, who is the great-grandson of oil mogul Armand Hammer.
This week, Chambers gave an update on her life with her kids in the Grand Caymans, writing on Instagram that she's been "Promoted from parent to asst coach" of the local basketball team.
E! News reached out to LAPD regarding the investigation against Hammer. As of May 7, the spokesperson confirms there are no updates in the case.